


The Worst Day of his Life

by Sheldonmoments



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Protectiveness, UNIT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25532938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheldonmoments/pseuds/Sheldonmoments
Summary: The Brig is having a bad day, but maybe he should trust his friends to help him out.But he can't risk his daughters life and he WILL do anything to protect her!
Relationships: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart & Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Third Doctor & Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
Kudos: 10





	The Worst Day of his Life

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own this but enjoy playing with these characters
> 
> (Cross-posted on FF.net)

Worst day of his life

Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart slammed the door of his office, stomped round to his desk and all but collapsed into his chair. He had had enough of aliens, fighting and most defiantly the Doctor for one day. Two hours they had been arguing about the best way to deal with the Cybermen in Cambridge, of course he knew he couldn’t just go in a blow up large sections of the city (no matter how much simpler it would make the solution). He didn’t need the Doctor to tell him this, or Miss Grant trying to make peace between them. He was fed up with how both Captain Yates and Sargent Benton could stand silent for hours looking sympathetic but not wanting to get involved. He rested his head in his hands, relishing in the relative quiet of his office. Oh it wouldn’t stay like this for long, in just over an hour the convoy was heading to Cambridge and they would all be together again working away like no argument had happened. In fact that was one of the many things about the Doctor Lethbridge Stewart always respected, he didn’t seem to hold a grudge.

As he sat massaging his temples, thinking this job was going to be the death of him his thought slipped to what he had already lost. His wife, who had once respected his job, looked up on his work with ‘terrorists’ as below him. She couldn’t understand why he was home less often when big problems happened but she never heard anything on the news. They had tried to work it out if not for themselves for Kate, Lethbridge Stewart knew that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his little girl. After two years of fights, both he and his wife decided it was best for Kate that she went to live with her mother. Of course he could see her as often as he liked, with his job it was difficult to find a suitable settlement so that had worked out best. Unfortunately he had only managed to see her ten times last year, what with this invasion and that attempted conquest, he always tried to make time for her though. His Ex-wife had phoned only the other month to rant at him because her 5 year old princess had decided she wanted to join the army when she was older. He was not sure what he thought of that, well he was obviously proud but did he really want her to be in that type of danger. At the time he had decided that it was all a long way off and he didn’t need to worry about it for at least another 10 years.

The phone brought him back from his reverie.  
‘Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart here ….’  
‘YES I KNOW ITS YOU ALASTER, SHUT UP AND LISTEN ….(deep breaths)’  
‘dear what is it, why call me at work? It had better be urgent’  
‘ITS KATE’ now that shut him up, his ex was hysterical about something and his brain went into over drive.  
‘Please calm down, tell me what has happened and I will try and be there as soon as I can. It’s just that we are about to leave on a rather important exercise’ the deep breath on the other end of the phone told him that this was the wrong thing to say  
‘YOU CARE MORE ABOUT YOUR STUPID JOB THAN US, ALWAYS DID!! WELL NOW YOU WILL BE HAPPY BECAUSE IT CAME HOME’ Lethbridge Stewart couldn’t quite understand what his ex was telling him, but it made his blood run cold. Work and home were not two words he liked in the same sentence, his silence must have annoyed her because she was talking again.  
‘They took her Allister, they took her away …. They left you a note saying see you in Cambridge ….. What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!’ he couldn’t answer, there was no answer he could give he managed to force out that he was so sorry before she hung up.

Her voice was still ringing round his head as he forced himself to think, well it couldn’t just be the Cybermen. It had to be someone who had access to the records; they must have a human contact. Cambridge that was where they were heading now, well there went the surprise ambush then. One thing Lethbridge Stewart knew was that until this mess was cleared up he couldn’t say a word, he was in command and if it was found he had been compromised he wouldn’t be allowed to go and get his daughter back. So it was when the Doctor flounced into his office 10 mins later he was ready to leave. He must have looked strained though  
‘My dear Brigadier, are you OK, you look as if you have just run a mile’ The Doctor commented  
‘Fine, Fine doctor, just want to get in there and sort out this mess’ the doctor only nodded, and the Brigadier found that another thing he respected about the doctor was his ability to know when not to say anything.

As Benton drove the jeep he wondered just how he had managed to get into this situation. He made sure that next to nothing was known about his personnel to protect them from this sort of thing. He Knew Captain Yates was called Mike and had a thing for Miss Grant, well he knew a lot more but nothing of consequence. He knew considerably less about Sargent Benton, it was only recently he found out his first name was John (if you didn't count records), and it was also at this time he found out that his common Sargent had land in Yorkshire and a sister. Benton had a bit of a loose tongue after a few pints and the Brigadier had talked to him about holding back a bit especially when on duty.

They arrived in Cambridge and everything seemed normal, well there was nobody about but no scenes of mass panic. The convoy headed towards a small college close to the centre and close to the epicentre of the sightings. The Porters seemed friendly enough at St Catherine’s College, as the troops filed through the narrow entrance. He had brought only a small force and had been given a block of student accommodation in which to set up headquarters. He was itching to do something, anything but knew these things had to be handled cautiously especially when his little girl may very well be stuck in the middle of it. The Doctor had gone, to see the sights as he said whatever that meant, of course Jo had gone along with him. He was currently alone having sent all his troops out to look for anything unusual and to make it look like the threat was being taken seriously. By the evening the Doctor had returned saying he was convinced that the Master was behind this, the Brigadier could agree with that the Master seemed like the type of person who could hold a grudge and make it personal. Throughout the day a few sighting of cyber men had been reported but by the time the task force arrive there was nothing. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart had a nasty feeling they were being played.

After a sleepless night worrying about his precious little girl in the hands of a mad man, the Brigadier was surprised to hear a conversation in the room next to his:  
‘The Brig has been acting odd this entire trip if you ask me’ Benton mused  
‘Sargent really, I admit he seems under stress at the moment but I am sure it nothing a good rest won’t solve. We should be able to get things moving today if I know the Master he won’t want to wait for us’ The Doctor defended  
‘Yes doctor what is he waiting for?’ Jo chimed in  
‘I for one am not convinced he has no more than 2 cyber men with him 3 at the most’ Yates said   
‘Captain that is actually rather a good observation, given all the sightings have been separate and when we have arrived there have been no witnesses, but there has defiantly time disturbances characteristic of a TARDIS’ The Doctor agreed  
‘Well doc don’t speak too loud or the Brig will be in here gun waving, he seems to really want to see some action this time, it can’t all be because of your ….. umm … disagreement can it’ Benton cut in  
‘Sargent really he is under a lot of strain at the moment, Mike what do you think’ The Doctor defended again but sounded less sure  
‘Well he does seem awfully anxious to hear something …… but all this inactivity it’s enough to drive anyone to distraction.’ Yates said decisively  
‘you’re telling me, you know what the porter actually yelled at me as I came in last night for stepping on the grass’ Benton seem to pick on the need to change the subject from there superior  
‘Well Benton you do have to respect the rules, they have been around for several hundred years, in fact when my father came here ….’ Yates jumped into story

The Brigadier tuned out then, as he got dressed he hoped something happened but he also hoped that someone would stop him doing anything foolish. He could feel the pent up anger coursing through him, and it took him several minutes to regain some resemblance of calm before he stepped into the other room. Captain Yates and Sargent Benton saluted and he was greeted with good mornings by Jo and the Doctor, he found a cup of strong coffee in his hand a plate of bacon was put in front of him. There was a companionable silence as he ate his breakfast, broken only by the birds outside the window; Lethbridge Stewart reflected that Cambridge really was a lovely city. It was about half past ten when the phone rang:

‘Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart here how can I ….’  
‘Aww Good morning Brigadier, hope you slept well I can assure you we both did’ The Brigadier inhaled sharply but forces his concern out of his voice as he asks  
‘Where are you and your metal friends hiding this time?’  
‘Oh we are not hiding, you little girl is waiting for you but she says she only wants you and one other to come a pick her up. She wants her Mum to come with you but I am quite looking forward to seeing my good friend the Doctor again’  
‘I will see what we can arrange (now he can hardly keep the fear and tremble out of his voice) give me a time and a place’  
‘Very well Brigadier come and claim your prize at 12:00 in Trinity college chapel’

With that the Master hung up, the Brigadier gulped and turned to the Doctor.  
‘He wants you and me to meet him in trinity chapel, not sure what he plans but it is imperative we don’t antagonise him, he told me he has a …..(he takes a deep breath) hostage’  
‘Dear chap then of course we must be careful, now I would defiantly suggest that we take Yates and Benton with us but they will not enter the Chapel, and I am certain Jo will come whether we like it or not. Also have your chaps on standby just in case there is no knowing what he has the poor hostage doing’

There discussion continues in this way for some time, but Lethbridge Stewart doesn’t really hear what is being said and at some point how he was feeling must have become obvious because when he looked up in the sudden silence everyone was looking at him. After some convincing he lies down on the bed, he insisted that it had to be him to go into the Chapel but had conceded to needing to rest.

#DW#

Benton was not the sort to worry easily but he was kind and how the Brig was acting has had him concerned. He now knew there was a hostage which made the whole operation more delicate but the rapid decline of his commanding officer was a major concern. A small part of him wondered if the Brigadier knew the hostage but the only one he could think of from Cambridge was Liz Shaw and it was unlikely to elicit such a response. Mike was probably right it was just the wait and anticipation which was getting to the Brig.

Well as 12 came closer Benton was starting to feel nervous, he often did a bit but very rarely was it only the Doc and the Brig in a situation. Normally they had him, Mike or Jo as a buffer but not this time. He also thought it was odd that the Brig was so centred on going in when he obviously wasn’t well.

#DW#

As they approached the chapel, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart checked his revolver he needed to be sure he could protect her. The Doctor would surely have a few words to say about guns, chapels and time lords, but nothing happened. Lethbridge Stewart was half convinced that the Doctor had worked out the whole situation which is why he had there most trusted subordinates on hand in case anything went wrong. With a final steadying deep breath he entered the chapel, and instantly his breath was taken away with the beauty of it. His eyes were drawn to the Master who was as usual dressed in black flanked by two Cybermen. As the Master saw them enter, he side stepped revealing a sight the Brigadier wished never to see again. His daughter appeared to be asleep on the alter; there was a Cyberman standing next to her with his gun trained on her heart. He could feel his breathing become faster and faster, he reached for his gun slowly. At some point the two Cybermen had withdrawn but to where he couldn’t see. Next to him the Doctor straightened looking immensely angry; it seemed he had put two and two together.

‘Well this is lovely isn’t it Brigadier, what a lovely setting for a reunion’ The Masters voice rang out in the chapel  
‘Don’t antagonise him, or me for that matter, this is unacceptable you cannot involve civilians in your dangerous games’ the Doctor almost spat   
‘Oh but the little girl so wants to follow her father’s footsteps, She told me you know ….. Yes she said she wanted to be a solider’ The Master continued in a sing-song voice  
‘I assure you at that age you wanted to be a ballet dancer so you can’t believe everything you hear, this has nothing to do with him or his daughter. Let her go now and be sensible about all this’ the Doctor tried to reason  
‘Oh but doctor it have everything to do with the man and the girl, she was telling me just yesterday how she wasn’t sure that daddy loved her anymore. You see he hasn’t seen her since her birthday which was 4 months ago’ The Master faked concern   
‘don’t you dare, don’t you dare talk to her’ Lethbridge Stewart growled as he levelled his gun at the Master  
‘Oh dear Brigadier you are a bit eager, but you will not shoot me, oh I know you would love to right now but you see if you kill me then our mutual friend here kills your daughter’ The Master sounded completely serious  
Lethbridge Stewart pales but holds his stance, he will not fire if it means that she will be hurt, he wouldn’t risk it. The tense silence was then broken by gun shots out side, followed by the metal clunk of the two Cybermen returning holding a motionless Sargent Benton and a furiously struggling Captain Yates.  
‘tut tut tut, I told the two of you to come alone, but I suppose it is difficult to separate you from those you love more than your daughter’ The Master mused, his tone and insinuation infuriating the Brigadier  
There was a small intake of breath, and Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart was shocked to see his daughter now apparently wide awake in the arms of a Cyberman. He stares from her tearful eyes, to the gun in his hand to the master.  
‘Let her go, she has nothing to do with this LET HER GO’ He demanded  
‘all in good time, firstly you are going to do something for me and Doctor don’t move a muscle or the girl gets it’ The Master said as if this was a reasonable conversation  
‘I am not doing anything for you ….’ Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart falters as he hears the whine of a Cyber-gun charging.  
It’s his little girl, the master is going to kill his little girl he will have to do what he is asked. He sees Benton start to come round and sees him jolt with shock and start fighting.  
‘If you want me to leave you daughter alone then you will disband UNIT starting with the execution of Sargent Benton for not respecting a superior alien being’ The Master drawled 

  
Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart didn’t know what to do, the whining was filling his ears. How could he do that, he couldn’t kill his friend but if he didn’t then he lose his treasure. It was almost subconscious movement as the gun moved, it seemed to take an age, he couldn’t look at where he was pointing.  
‘Well this is a bit …… look Brigadier sir ………’ then a cry starts as the gun is forced into Kates head ‘Just do it sir please ……’

#DW#

Benton knew that the quiet was too good to be true, as the Cybermen came round the corner he fired at them with all he had. Mike was also fighting, but he had pushed Jo away out of line. For Benton the fight was short as he received nasty blow to the head, he tried to fight for Mikes sake as both the Cybermen closed in on him but blackness enveloped him. When he woke he was in the middle of what seemed to be a showdown between the Brig and the Master. The Doctor was stood to the side looking like he would dearly like to take someone’s head off, the Brig was completely white and had tears running down his face. Benton was always decent and really wanted things to be ok, but looking at the Brig it seemed like the whole world would fall away.

When the master gave his terms, he realised just what a mess the situation was. He strained to see the little girl being held and knew at that moment there was nothing he could do for anyone in the room. He prayed that Jo went for help and as he watched the barrel of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart’s revolver point straight at him. He tried to stop it, but as the little girl started to cry well he wanted to die if it would stop all this.

#DW#

There was no point; if he killed his friend he had no guarantee that his daughter wouldn’t be next. He was literally fighting with himself as he started pulling the trigger, if he killed Benton his little girl would be lost anyway how could she love a man she watched murder someone. He had lost all his conviction which had made him such a good inspiring leader. He could hear his little girl crying, and his Sargent almost begging for it to be over. No I will not be played, I will not lose anyone here, and he lifted the barrel of his revolver ever so slightly and pulled the trigger. The next thing he saw was Benton on the floor along with the Cyberman, he can remember thinking to himself that the bullets really worked. Kate had stopped crying and for an awful second he was convinced the Master had made good on his promise when there was another gun shot and the Cyberman holding his daughter fell to the ground. Now Kate cried and Lethbridge Stewart ached to go to here but he couldn’t yet there was a criminal in the room who needed to be dealt with first.

As soon as the Brigadier had made his shot, the Doctor had vaulted across the room to the Master, just to ensure that he didn’t get away in his TARDIS. Mike had gotten free of his Cyberman and was putting several bullets into it. When Jo had arrived the rest of the squad had turned up, and 3 were now carrying Benton out, as they passed they assured him that the big lug had just fainted. Now Allister was free to go to his daughter, he dropped his revolver to the ground in disgust and ran up the nave to her.

Kate stopped crying almost as soon as he reached her, she sniffed and reached out. Brigadier Allister Gordon Lethbridge Stewart sat in the chapel holding his little girl while everything was resolved round him. He found he was crying, silent tears running down his face, and his little girl was too. It was then that she surprised him  
‘Daddy you is so brave and smart, I knowed that you would beat him’  
‘That’s right sweet-heart I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, never’  
‘when I grow up I want to be just like you’

It was here still sitting by the ruin of a Cyberman, they were found an hour later, by the Doctor although Jo, Benton and Yates hovered just behind.  
‘my dear Lethbridge Stewart its all over now, please never do that again. You must always let us know when the cost is so high, and then we can make the necessary arrangements. Before you say anything no I would never dream of taking you away for the front line my friend’  
the Brigadier looked up with a smile  
‘I believe introductions are in order’

#DW#

43 years later

When he finds himself inside the metal casing of a Cyberman, he feels the commands to bring down the UNIT plane through the hive mind.  
UNIT rang a bell, and he opened his mind to the hive mind, UNIT, the Doctor, science, heads of UNIT, delete.  
Then he remembered, the scared little girl in the arms of a Cyberman, the Doctor livid at the Master, his little girl proud of him, Kate as head of science at UNIT.  
That made him almost fall out of the air, she would be on that plane with the Doctor, he had to warn them, and he had to do something. As he approaches the plane he takes out as many of the Cybermen as he can, but then the side is ripped open. He sees the TARDIS, well he ought to recognise that it was in the lab long enough, and then he sees a man in black reaching for a blond lady. It looked like he was screaming, and he realised why her grip was loose and the sudden change in pressure was driving her into unconsciousness. He is sure the man is the Doctor but there is nothing he can do for him now as his little girl falls away. He dives to catch her, once she is in his arms he finds it ironic that this time she is in the arms of a Cyberman no one would harm her.

As he lands, he is in a church yard; he knows he is in the right place because the TARDIS is here too. He watched the scene happen in front of him Kate in his arms and felt the need to take some sort of action. Things have taken a nasty twist for the non-violent Doctor; he is being urged to shoot the Master by his companion. This can’t be happening; he also starts to feel the pull of the hive mind saying he needed to fly to make this right. He looks at Kate and she opens her eyes and wheezes  
‘I want to be like you, I wish the Doctor would look at me as a friend like he saw you…….. I try, that woman he can’t kill her you know that’ he looked at Kate and knew she was right, she smiled as he nodded  
‘I knowed you would beat him’ she whispered as she fell back into unconsciousness

Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart knew what to do, he needed to get their attention to help Kate and he needed to help the doctor. He raised his Cyber-gun and the noise he had been plagued by for years after that day in the chapel rang in his ears. He discharged the gun right at the Master, or Missy as she was at the moment. The Doctor looked over and Lethbridge Stewart pointed at his brave girl, it was her idol that would have to look after her now. Then something he never expected happened, the Doctor saluted him, as he took off to save the earth one last time.

#DW#

The doctor watched as Brigadier Allister Gordon Lethbridge Stewart joined the other Cybermen saving the world in a perverse twist of fate. As he ran to help Kate, who was muttering away about her father he felt a warm glow in all the sadness. He had been put in a similar position to the Brigadier and he couldn’t kill his friend either. It made him think back to that day in the chapel when a young Kate made up her mind about what she wanted to do with her life, as her hero saved her life. Then he thought of today when that same hero had saved her life and the Doctor’s life. As he piloted the TARDIS to UNIT headquarters to ensure that Kate got good treatment, he just once allowed himself to think of one of his oldest and dearest friends as the hero he really was. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart was as human as could be, yet he rose above that and almost always made the right decision (apart from that business with the Silurian’s but maybe he could be forgiven).

Good bye my friend Brigadier Allister Gordon Lethbridge Stewart

**Author's Note:**

> The Brig is one of my favourite characters in Dr Who, and he met like all the Doctors (in one form or another)


End file.
